“It’s all about the people,” argued Peter Drucker, the most influential management thinker of the past century (see WSJ article).

It’s a philosophy that we hold dear in our hearts at Mozy – and one the analysts at ESG appear to champion, as well. The latest report from the storage experts highlights the shift in emphasis needed to deliver comprehensive data protection for the modern workforce. And it really boils down to the people.

As the world of backup evolves, it’s becoming less about forcing people to use specific devices that you force them to back up to a specific destination – and more about protecting the data belonging to those people and intelligently selecting a backup destination that suits it best.

“A hybrid architecture means that an organization does not need to make ‘either-or’ data protection decisions, but can instead use centralized and distributed backup approaches wherever each makes sense,” said Jason Buffington, Senior Data Protection Analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group.

“For example, centralized data protection could provide the foundation for compliance, while distributed backup could add agility in dealing with remote data,” said Buffington. “The key to success is choosing the right data protection tools for each recovery goal — and, rather than the IT department trying to own every single piece of the infrastructure, making sure that they own the management for all of the organizations’ data backup, regardless of method.”

It’s well known that EMC has a comprehensive portfolio of backup services that offers on-premise, private cloud, public cloud and hybrid solutions. The new ESG-Mozy white paper helps big companies better understand those different tools. It offers advice on building a hybrid, people-centric approach that meets all their needs.

And this kind of approach will meet their needs so long as the business makes sure that the ownership and control of backup management holds fast across the entire enterprise. Corporate office employees, remote office employees and workers on the go all have different data backup and access requirements and need to be treated uniquely.

Putting people at the heart of the backup strategy is core for Mozy. We talked about this in July when we made big changes to the foundation on which the Mozy service is built. And we’ll continue to talk about it as we bring more features to market based on our new infrastructure.

The ESG White Paper’s hotlist of “must haves” for a successful hybrid backup architecture includes the following characteristics:

- Data protection and access and the ability to recover that data are all provided
- It’s manageable by the IT organization
- Remote and branch-office employees are equally supported
- Security is as strong for the cloud piece as for the on-premise piece
- Productivity is enhanced through the hybrid approach.